


Alone for the Holidays

by MelissaEM



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Actually It Takes Place Before Christmas, Christmas, F/M, M/M, Other, Reader Has a Mostly Lonely Life, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader Lives in the United States, Reader lives alone, Reader's Mom is Problematic, Reader-Insert, The Disability is Unspecified, reader has no specified gender, reader is disabled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 13:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16599071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelissaEM/pseuds/MelissaEM
Summary: Christmas is next month, and the plans you wanted to make with your mother fall through. Fortunately, Asgore comes to your rescue.





	Alone for the Holidays

It was a cold November day when you hung up the phone on your mother, crying bitter tears. You wanted to call her ahead of time to talk to her about her holiday plans. You didn't celebrate Thanksgiving, so you were okay spending the day alone. But Christmas was a big deal to you, and being rather close to your mother, you wanted nothing more than to spend Christmas with her.

She had said no.

Your mother was retired, a “snowbird” who traveled north during warmer seasons, and then to Florida during colder ones. When she was up north, she lived in the same state as you, about half an hour away from your town. But that was only for six months out of each year, and she only ever visited you to help you clean your house, or go shopping. You barely did anything to simply hang out and bond. Not to mention, your mother spent most of the rest of her time with her boyfriend of twenty-odd years, a man you weren't particularly close to.

Your mother's boyfriend saw you like his own child, but he wasn't particularly open-minded and was something of a bigot, which you absolutely couldn't stand. Whatever love and caring you had for the guy was mostly due to how long he had been in your life. Plus your mother adored him, and you loved your mother, so you kind of HAD to care about this guy. What was unfortunate was that, due to a car accident, your mother's boyfriend had greatly hurt his spine, so much so that he's needed multiple surgeries over the years to kill the pain. It was because of one of those many surgeries that you couldn't see your mother for Christmas. Not that it was the ONLY excuse she threw at you.

Your mother told you she'd have to stop buying Christmas gifts in order to afford a ticket for you; you'd buy one yourself except you didn't earn enough income. Also, you were disabled, and your mother had said something about disabled people not having any rights in Florida, whatever that meant. And she didn't trust you to fly on a plane by yourself, even though you were a grown adult, you'd flown on planes without incident before, and you lived alone in the first place. The only real reason she had any sort of concern was because of one bad day she'd had with you at a restaurant. That bad day had only occurred because you hadn't slept well the night before! You were much better about your schedule now, but your mother refused to hear it.

But of course, the main reason your mother had for not wanting you to visit her was that her boyfriend's latest back surgery didn't have a set date yet. You could sort of understand that – a set date would have been easier to plan around. But those other excuses she threw at you smelled like bullshit. And as if those excuses weren't enough, she tried to soften the blow this was dealing you by saying, “Christmas is just a man-made holiday. It's not a big deal. You see me six months a year anyway”. Your mother had this strange viewpoint that modern society had a tribal aspect to it, and made up excuses to “not be a part of the tribe” to avoid adhering to society's expectations, which included celebrating certain holidays. Defying society's rules was fine in your mind, but your mother using this line of thinking against you, when she knew how much you loved and cared about Christmas, felt cold and insensitive.

So when you asked your mother, “Is your boyfriend's back surgery more important than me seeing you on Christmas?”, and she said “yes”, it was like being stabbed in the heart with an icicle. Your mother was the most important person in your life. How could she do this to you? How could she betray you like this? It wasn't fair.

And with this betrayal, you'd hung up on her, tears streaming down your cheeks.

You didn't get to wallow in your own misery for more than a few seconds, however, as the doorbell to your apartment gave a cheerful ring. Wiping your face clean, you got up from your chair and answered the door, swinging it wide open when you saw who it was.

“Howdy!” greeted Asgore. The boss monster waved at you with one hand while holding a bottle in the other. He was wearing a pink knitted sweater, which at a different time would have amused you because it meant the weather was too cold even for the furry, fluffy king.

You smiled half-heartedly at Asgore. “Hi, sweetie,” you responded quietly. You'd been dating Asgore for a good part of the year now, since March in fact. When your mom wasn't there for you, he had been, and you couldn't be more thankful. You didn't exactly have any friends living nearby, nor relatives, so to say he was a light in your rather lonely life would be an understatement.

Asgore took a second look at your expression and frowned in worry. “Dear? Is something wrong? I did not come at a bad time, did I?”

You shook your head. “No, Gorey, you didn't... actually, you came at the right time. I kind of need to talk to someone right now.”

Asgore gave a gentle smile. “I would be more than happy to talk with you. Why don't we sit on the couch?”

You stepped away the doorframe to allow Asgore entry, him ducking his head as he came inside. Then you shut the door, and the two of you made your way to the living room.

“What's in that bottle?” you asked him.

“Ah, it's elderflower cider,” said Asgore. “I know you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but it is coming up, and I wanted to give you a little gift. I hope you don't mind.”

“Aw, of course I don't mind!” you said. “That's very sweet of you. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome!”

You both sat down on the couch, Asgore placing the bottle of cider on the nearby coffee table. The monster king turned to you, took your hands in his, and asked, “Now... tell me what's troubling you, love.”

You told Asgore about the conversation you had with your mother, every detail, from start to finish. You went on about how frustrated and hurt you were, and how you'd spent the past four Christmases alone because your mother always had an excuse of some sort, and because your friends and other relatives had their own families to spend time with. By the time you were finished talking, you were crying again, gripping Asgore's large hands tightly, as if you were afraid he'd disappear the moment you let go. The whole time, Asgore had listened to you quietly, nodding at appropriate times in understanding, and slowly rubbing his thumbs against the backs of your hands in a comforting gesture. When you'd finished speaking, Asgore let go of your hands, only to wrap his arms around you in a gentle yet firm hug. You sank your face into his chest, his pink sweater absorbing your tears.

“I'm so sorry, dear,” he whispered, his voice making a slight rumble against your form. “I can only imagine how painful this is for you.” He paused. “Perhaps... perhaps I can spare you money for a plane ticket? I know the price is steep, but--”

“No,” you told him, your voice slightly muffled. “It's too much money for you to spend on me. Besides, after hearing what Mom said... I... I don't think I want to see her anymore, anyway. I just don't want to be alone on Christmas again.” Your hold on him tightened. “Is that so wrong?” you asked, your voice cracking.

Asgore rubbed your back soothingly. “Well... in that case... why not spend Christmas with me this year?”

You looked up at him in surprise. “R-really?”

Asgore smiled down at you. “Of course! I mean... I'll be busy playing Santa for a lot of monster children, and I'll be having some friends over for a short while... but other than that, I'd be more than happy to spend quality time with you this holiday. My friends might even be glad to include you in their festivities!”

You were smiling back at him now, crying tears of happiness. “Asgore... thank you!” Your buried your face in his chest again. “You're an angel. You're an absolute angel.”

Asgore blushed and chuckled. “Well, I wouldn't go that far, but... think nothing of it, love. I know what it's like to be lonely... it isn't pleasant. And I love you so much. How could I possibly let you be alone this time of year?” He stroked your hair. “We can cuddle by the fireplace... watch Christmas movies... I'll even make you some hot chocolate, if you'd like. Just... don't expect me to drink any myself. The marshmallows have a tendency to get stuck in my beard.”

You burst into giggles at the mental image of Asgore picking marshmallows out of his beard. The monster king laughed along with you, sounding an awful lot like Santa Claus. That pretty much sealed it for you. As you calmed down, you gave Asgore a big grin. “I'd love to spend Christmas with you. Thank you, thank you so much!” You brought yourself into a kneeling position on the couch cushions and planted a huge kiss on Asgore's cheek. “I love you, Gorey.”

Asgore hummed happily and kissed you back. “I love you too. Now... how about some cider?”

The two of you spent the evening discussing your holiday plans over elderflower cider, and soon the pain you felt before had faded completely. You and Asgore eventually fell asleep together on the couch, with him holding you in his arms. That night, you would dream about how much fun you were going to have on Christmas this year, and how many kisses you were going to give Asgore under the mistletoe.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is not my greatest work; I'm not sure how many people will sympathize with Reader. But it's something I felt compelled to write. I hope you all got some amount of enjoyment out of it.
> 
> Sorry for all that exposition at the start, by the way.


End file.
